Index strip sheet and method of making the same



Oct. 20, 1936. J. H. RAND 2,058,035

INDEX STRIP SHEET AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed April 5, 1955 /m e/7/or i a Patented Oct. 20, 19%6 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- 2,050,035 Y INDEX s'ralr sneer AND METHOD or I mum:

G THE SAME.

James H. Band, North Falmouth, Masa, assignor to Philrand, Inc., North Falmouth, Mara, a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 5, 1933. Serial No. 664,590

1 Claim. 01. 93-1) ber of these strips may be adjustably and interchangeably arranged in a supporting frame or 10 panel. Strips of this type are usually made of heavy paper or cardboard, and are relatively long and narrow. The narrowness of such strips has made it difllcult to typewrite the desired data on the strips, and accordingly special attachments to hold the individual strips in place upon aty'pewriter have been provided. Even when the strips are marked by hand they are so narrow that the writing operation is renderedsomewhat awkward. It is preferable, however, to mark these strips by 20 typewriting for the sake of cleamess and legibility,

as well as to save time.

In order to permit the typing of such strips and to avoid the necessity of employing special attachments to hold such a strip against the platen,

2 has been proposed to arrange the strips in large sheets with the strip sections separated or defined by perforated lines, these lines aiding in thetearing or separating of the strips. The resulting strips, however, have ragged edges and are likely to become injured during the separating operation due to the failure of the tear to follow the perforated line. Furthermore, the separation of the strips in this manner is-a relatively troublesome and time-consuming operation. In certain cases properly spaced lines have been typed on a large sheet and then the sheet has been cut to plurality of separately cut strips which were disposed with their long edges in juxtaposition and coplanar relatipnship, suitable binding elements then being adhesively or otherwise secured to the strips and extending transversely of their long juxtaposed edges. This composite sheet could be inserted as a unit in the typewriter and be held in engagement with the platen thereof in the conventional manner. After .the individual strips,

55 which were held together-bythetemporary bindvarious sheets have been devised; for example, it I was provided by a composite sheetformed by a.

- of the sheet may ing elements, were thus typed, the binding elements were peeled off to permit the insertion of the strips in the index holder or their application to a suitable tab. While the last-named arrangement offered distinctive advantages over the 5 methods and means previously employed, the manufacture of such a composite sheet involved the laborious taskof arranging a large number of the blank strips in coplanar, edge to edge juxtaposition, so that the binding elements might be applied thereto. Furthermore, a composite sheet of this character when inserted in a typewriter provided a somewhat irregular polygonal shape when held against the platen. In other words, the

sections were disposed at mutually obtuse angles rather than following a continuous curve, as isthe case with a sheet of paper; the somewhat loose connections between successive strip sections aiforded by the binding elements permitted considerable relative movement between the edges of adjoining sections, so that the positioning of thestrip sections could not be determined with extreme accuracy, and so that the movement of the sheet over the platen was not as readily effected as in the case of an ordinary continuous sheet. Such a sheet was characterized by small spaces between adjoining strip ends; accordingly its edges were not smooth and continuous;

The present invention affords an improvement upon the various arrangements heretofore employed for preparing'index strips and particularly upon the method last described. In accordance with this invention, the original sheet is provided with a continuous perimetric or marginal portion having a central field with sections separated by parallel slits extending continuously between relatively narrow marginal regions at opposite edges of the strip. Preferably a sheet of this character is provided with binding elements extending transversely of the slits and arranged interme- 4o dia-te the edges of thestrip as well as adjoining the same to aid in holding the strip sections in place.

'A sheet prepared in accordance with this invention to provide a continuous pe tric portion may have its opposite margins emoved to .aflord a composite sheet of the ype' described above, which may hen be typ or the margins main integrally connected with the strip sections until after the typing 0 operation. Such a smooth-edged sheet of this character, when inserted in a typewriter, has characteristics substantially closer to the char-' acteristics of a conventional, continuous uncut sheet than does the composite sheet heretofore provided with binding elements, and it avoids the employment of perforated or scored lines with the resulting ragged edges on the strips, and does not require the laborious cutting operations which some previous methods involved. After typing, a strip of this character may have its opposite marginal portions removed by cutting along parallel lines spaced from its two edges and intersecting the ends of the slits which cross its central field. Then a composite sheet is afforded with separate strips connected by binding elements which may be peeled off by a relative tearing operation, any suitable tacky agglutinant being employed on the binding elements.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a sheet involving the principles of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of such a sheet;

Fig. 3 is a'broken front elevation of a portion of the sheet shown in Figs. 1 and 2 after the strip sections have been typed;

Fig. 4 is an elevation showing the manner in which the strip sections may be separated from the binding elements; I

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the strip assemb shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of an optional form of index strip sheet;

Fig. '7 shows certain strips removed from a portion of the sheet illustrated in Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is an elevational detail showing such removed strips.

Referring to Fig. 1, a suitable sheet of cardboard 'or heavy paper may be prepared in accordance with, the principles of this invention, by cutting the sheet I to provide a plurality of slits 2 which preferably are parallel to each other and may be equally spaced in such a manner as to define narrow strip sections. The slits may extend continuously between narrow marginal areas at opposite edges of the sheet and thus provide a central field separated into strip sections and surrounded by a continuous, smoothedged perimetric portion. For purposes of convenience of illustration, the vertical height of the sheet shown in Fig. 1 is not substantially greater than its width, but, in'practice, the vertical dimension of such a sheet may commonly be substantially greater than its width.

A sheet of the character shown in Fig. 1 may be used for typing or otherwise marking the strip sections, but I preferably apply a series of binding ribbons or elements 3 to the back of the relative position during and subsequent to the typing operation. The strips 3 may be formed of textile fabric or a suitable paper coated with any suitable type of permanently tacky adhesive, so that elements 3 may be peeled from the body portion of the sheet or the strip sections. ,As shown in Fig. 2, the elements 3 may be disposed adjoining the opposite sides of the sheet, thus being effective as reinforcements for the marginal portions of the sheet. Preferably the ends of the binding elements extend over and are secured to the marginal portions of the sheet at its upper and lower edges which are continuous with the marginal portions of its sides and which cooperate in aflording the continuous perimetric portion. Thus the binding elements extend between the opposite portions of the continuous perimetric portion of the sheet.

If desired, it is obvious that the margins of the sheet may be removed before the typing operation so that a somewhat more flexible sheet is afforded, if this is preferred by the typlst, or a composite sheet of the character illustrated in Fig. 2 may be inserted in a typewriter in the conventional manner, and the individual strip sections receive typing T, as indicated in Fig. 3. Obviously the uppermost section which forms part of the continuous marginal 'or perimetric portion of the sheet may also be typed, but often this section is somewhat wider than the strip sections in the central field, and accordingly it may be left untyped. After the strip sections have thus been typed, the sheet is removed from the typewriter in the conventional manner and the continuous marginal portions at either side of the sheet are separated from the strip sections by making two outs along lines 0-0, Fig. 3, to meet or intersect the end portions of slits 2. Thus the continuous marginal portions of the original sheet are removed and a composite sheet section is provided with the individual strips connected by the flexible binding elements 3. These binding elements may be separated by peeling or tearing from the strip sections to permit the individual separation of the latter from the typed group in consecutive orderor otherwise, as desired. a

In certain cases it may be desirable to arrange a series of these strip sections between two cardboard holding elements or the like to keep them temporarily in place, while 'the binding elements 3 are removed; then to retain them in their relative position as typed, and to cause them to is shown in Fig. 6, Fig. '7 illustrating the appear ance of such a sheet when its marginal portions have been removed and two or three of the narrow strip elements have been cut away. During this operation a cut may be made centrally of the intermediate binding element so that a portion of the latter adheres to each of the narrow strip sections. Thus a set of narrow strip sections may be provided, as shown in Fig. 8, adapted to permit individual removal of strips after the same manner as permitted by'the assembly shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

It is evident that this invention affords an arrangement permitting the more convenient preparation of narrow name strips for indexes, and particularly the typing of the same. This invention avoids the necessity of arranging a large number of separate narrow strips in coplanar juxtaposition for the application of the binding elements, while permitting the provision of a composite sheet including numerous strips connected by the flexible binding elements. The invention also permitsthe provision of a sheet havingv a greater degree of continuity than characterizes such a flexible sheet, this continuity affording characteristics closer to that of an ordinary continuous sheet and aflording opposite smooth edges, thus facilitating the typing operation and the movement of the sheet into and out of the typewriter.

I claim:

Method of making typed index slips involving I a,oss,oas

but in spaced relation to the other two edges or the sheet, thereby affording a sheet with a continuous uninterrupted perimetric portion, and with a central field having sections separated by parallel slits, applying a flexible binding element in adhesive engagement with said sections so that said binding element extends transversely to the slits and is disposed substantially midway oi' the edges of the sheet near which the slits terminate, removing marginal portions of .the

sheet'adioining said edges by cutting along thelines substantially parallel to said last-named edges. and intersecting the ends 01' the slits, typing on the sections, cutting the sections along a 4 .line between the edges of said binding strip to divide-each oi the sections into two parts, thus providing composite sheets each including a plurality oi divided sections connected by a severed l0 portion of the original binding element.

- JiiMES H. RAND. 

